CHAPTER II

"Any calls for me?"

"Relax," said Zee trying to hinder his smile. "This is the third time you've asked me this since morning. Don't you know that I'll immediately let you know if someone calls?"

Adam managed to reach Arthur Castle – who was in New York with his family- a night before. He talked to him about Mercy and invited him to Tri-Cities, which made Castle very excited and happy. He had gladly accepted the invitation before he asked for Mercy's office number. Adam gave the number, and Castle said he would phone her tomorrow.

It was high noon while Mercy was working on a white Opel, the phone started ringing. It was not any longer than a blink as Mercy rolled outfrom under the car and grabbed the phone:

"Mercy Thompson," she said as she held her breath.

"Hello, Ms. Thompson. This is Arthur Castle. I got your number from Adam Hauptman yesterday. I hope I'm not interrupting your work right now."

"No, actually I've been waiting for your call."

"I'm glad to hear about that." He laughed silently.

Mercy looked at his photo on the front page of the daily newspaper. He was forty-something, but his voice was sounding as if he was much younger than that. He was like a statue of the perfect family man.

"My family and I had been at the crossroads for a while before we decided to unleash our real nature to the world. Now, I think, we must stand together until the world understands… But if you don't want to be explored,I can understand that."

A short pause came from the other line of the phone. Mercy was at a loss as to what to say. Arthur continued:

"I'm in Manhattan now. My sister-in-law lives here. She's a publicist. She and my wife, Sofia, are working hard to make a good impression for the public. But, my brother and I are available until Tuesday evening. Do you mind if we come to visit you tomorrow morning?"

"I'd be delighted," Mercy said placidly.

"There is so much to talk. I'll see tomorrow Ms. Thompson. Have a nice day," Arthur said.

"You, too," Mercy said before she put the phone down.

Zee had been whistlingoutsidein a happy mood when Mercy raised her head and looked at him. She shook off and got back to her work.

It was dinner time when Castle brothers arrived in their private jet.Adam had always been such a hospitable man. He hired the best catering firmin town to be attentive tohis two important guests in the best way.

But it looks like they'll need to put one more plate on the table since Arthur's young daughter, Aurah, had decided to join her father – because she was sick of being bothered by NY press.-

Arthur was the first to walk into the house in his black tweeds.He was better-looking than he appeared on TV screen. His face and his eyes were proving that he was a Native American. He was tall and elegant, and had the kind of a sophisticated look which rich and well-educated people have got. His older brother, right behind him, was looking even much more sophisticated than that, just like an elderly movie star.

Undoubtedly, the girl who wrapped her hand around her uncle's arm was one of the nicest of a mix-blood in the whole world. She was way too pale to be a Native American, but she had a special air which Indian girls have got. She seemed to get the best features of her Ojibway father and Swedish mother; thick, red-brown hair and olive-brown eyes. She was approximately 5'6, wearing skinny jeans and sneakers. Aurah Castle; the girl who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth…

There was somehow an unhappy expression on her face. She didn't make any eye contact with anyone while her father and uncle were shaking hands one by one.

"Welcome to Tri-Cities," said Adam politely. "Thank you for coming, tonight."

"Thank you for having us." Arthur smiled sincerely.

"I'm Adam Hauptman. These are some of my pack; Daryl, my second-in-command and Warren, my third."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, all of you." Arthur nodded.Then he turned to introduce his own family. "This is my elder brother, Richard, and my baby girl, Aurah."

"Glad to meet you," Aurah only murmured.

Mercy came downstairs from Jesse's room. Jesse had been encouraging her all day long for this meeting.

"Here is my mate, Mercedes Athena Thompson," Adam introduced her as he wrapped his around her waist. "Our one and only Coyote…"

"It's nice to meet you in person, Mr. Castle," Mercy said.

Arthur's smile widened as he extended his hand to Mercy. She shook his hand trying too hard to play it cool. Richard made a different move; he kissed her hand in a charming and gentelmanly manner. Perhaps, he thought Adam wouldn't care – because Richard was old enough to be Mercy's father and he was happily married to a fae named Shelly- which Adam didn't care. He was just so happy that Mercy met some ones of her kind.

Adamguided them to the dining room. The table was up fit to kill. There had been only Adam, Mercy, Arthur, Richard and Aurah at the table before Adam sent over Warren to ask Jesse to join them to make friends with Arthur's daughter. Two young girls sat side by side at the table as their fathers were talking "business".

Aurah listened politely while Jesse was talking continuallyabout her school, friends and home works, but her one ear was all for her father's conversation. He was talking to Adam and Mercy about his future plans for seeking other Walkers in the world, and his investment plans for gaining world's confidence in shape shifters- that they're not monsters or freaks like some people think.-

After the dinner, they went outside to Adam's rose garden where they were supping their hot chocolates. Adam asked them to stay over for the night, but Arthur said he would have an important meeting the next morning. So, they would be leaving after the drinks, but keeping in touch with Mercy and him often. Jesse took Aurah to her room to have some space from the boring business talks.

"So," she said after she had been showing Aurah her DVDs for a few minutes. "The internet says that you were accepted by YALE, but you said 'No' and preferred British Columbia.Is that true?"

Aurah made a grimace. "Now that my family and I've become public figures, so they are writing every important – or unimportant- details of my life," she sighed. "And what you read is true. YALE invited me the year I finished high school, but I preferred to stay in Canada."

"Wow," Jesse said. She was truly impressed by this statue of self-esteem.

Aurah was a 21-year-old university student, studying Physcologhy. She could speak Swedish and Spanish fluentlyand a little bit of her father's mother tongue, Ojibwe. She was playing violin and harmonica, and had such a good voice – as far as Jesse saw from her music rehearsal videos on Youtube.-

"Where's your mother?" Jesse asked.

"She's in New York now with my aunt. They're preparing thepress releases,"answered Aurah.

"Do you like New York?"

"New York is fine. I like shopping and sight-seeing, but that's all. I don't wanna be a permanent NYC resident." Aurah put her hand on her forehead. "Looks like I'll have to be… I had overheard my parents' talk before we came here. My father said we could move to New York."

"It's not so bad." Jesse shrugged.

"I was born and raised in Canada. It feels like home," said Aurah while she was looking out of the window. "I've never wanted my family to revealour existence. They were so eager when they decided to. So, I didn't want to be the rebellion, you know."

Jesse was listening attentively. She tried to put herself in Aurah's place for a moment when she opened up herself, even though she was trying not to look into Jesse eyes much as possible for some reason.

"But that decision brought you to Mercy. Isn't it worth this?" Jesse tried to comfort her.

"I'm happy to find out that there is another one like us on earth. Mercy seems like a really good lady. I liked her. What I don't like is the extreme attention from the press and public." She sat by the window and crossed he arms. The rain was drizzling.

Jesse came to her feet. "I'll go get some hot chocolate for us."

Aurah didn't say anything. Just nodded.

"I believe that everything is gonna be all right," said Jesse attempting a smile before she turned around and walked out of the room.

Aurah was all alone now, staring at the empty street from the window. Last couple of days had been a roller-coaster for her. Many ups and downs… She'd always been a proper, modest young lady. But now she was screaming silently from the inside. She recalled the girls who had shouted out to her at the faculty hall:

"Hey! Little Fox, show us your tail!"

She was one of the best students, which caused her to receive plenty of jealousy from some other girls. And now they had a trump card in their hands to play against her, to make fun of her. She shook off her head to get rid that unpleasant scene. But, the scenes came anyway:

"Hey, people! Watch out your meals. There's a fox walking around here!"

There was a boy named Kevin in the same faculty who had asked her out last month and been waiting for her reply. Aurah had thought he might have been a nice boy at first until she found this little note inside her notebook: "I'm taking my question back. Sorry, I don't date with animals."

Something was taking Jesse so long to come back and distract Aurah. Thank Goodness, the ring of her cell phone woke her up from the nightmare:

"Baby girl, are you in Eastern Washington?" asked a familiar voice.

"Oh, my Goodness! Keisha, is that you?"

"None other!" She laughed. "How come you came here and never called me? You are supposed to be one of my best friends!"

Keisha and Aurah had been childhood friends until Keisha's family moved to West Richland seven years ago. The girls hadn't seen each other in person since then. But, they were e-mailing and telephoning very often. Keisha was human, and she never knew that her best friend was a Fox!

Aurah tried to collect herself not to stutter as she usually did when she was excited, angry or afraid:

"What was I supposed to tell you? Hey Keisha! Guess what? I'm a fox-shifter, and I'm coming to Tri-Cities with my dad to meet a Coyote?"

"Well, that explains much," Keisha laughed silently. "I watched the news on Sunday, and yesterday, and today. I went wow! I mean you're like a rock star now."

"Say no more!" Aurah said. Her voice was better in tone now. A little more cheerful, at least.

"Seriously, dude, I wouldn't give a damn even if you were a werewolf. You're still you. Frankly, I'd always suspected a little of some things about you," she tittered.

"Like what?"

"You've always been sort of sly. You know that, don't you?"

"Shut up, Keisha!" Aurah burst into laughter.

"It's good to hear you laughing, girl," Keisha said.

Then the devil flew into Aurah's mind. She wanted to break free from the feeling of being stuck up in a situation that she wouldn't want to be. She remembered the times when she and Keisha said to their parents that they would go to the cinema, and they went to the disco, instead. She missed those days. She was fed up with following her parents everywhere, letting them make all the important decisions about her own life. For instance; she'd always wanted to attend to a music academy, but her parents wanted her to become a doctor, or lawyer, or a therapist.

That was the reason why she rejected Yale and went to British Columbia. It was one of the rare things that she decided on her own.

"Keisha, listen! I'm kind of bored in here. Can we meet somewhere?"

"Now?" Keisha asked as surprised.

"Yes, now."

"Well, what does your dad think about it?"

"He doesn't need to know. We just hang around for an hour or so. Then I'll come back here. No one would notice."

Of course, someone would notice, because Arthur and Richard were about to leave in half an hour. Obviously, Aurah was planning something else. Either she was trying to attract attention, or she was trying to give her father a message that she'd never wanted the world to see her.

"All right," Keisha said. "Do you want to me come pick you?"

"No, no. I'll take a taxi. Give me an address where we can meet."

"Okay, I'm going to text you the address of my fiancé's club now. It's very close to your destination. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay. See you then."

"See you!" Keisha said and hung up.

The text message received in less than a minute while Aurah was trying to find a way to get out of the place. -After she read the message, she turned her mobile off.- There was no way she could walk out of the front door. Two of Adam's pack were waiting downstairs (Warren and Ben). Her father and the others were in the rose garden at the backside…

The only ideal place for her escape was Jesse's window. It wasn't so very high. If she became careful enough, she might be able to jump without breaking a bone.

She put one leg out first, then the other and sat on the edge. The road was deserted. No ocular witness.Only two cars were parked there. If she had changed into fox, she would have escaped much easier. But she was gonna have to leave her clothes then, and that would be a problem later.

Holding the water tube, she started going down like a lizard. She knew that werewolves' hearing sense was extremely good. So, she tried to be quiet as much as possible. When she reached the end of the tube, she jumped on the floor on four feet like a cat. Just when she was about to think that she made it, she got shocked by the voices coming from a close distance:

"Good night," said someone within a nifty British accent.

"Good night, Ben," said another male voice.

Ben had things to do on his computer, so Adam gave him permission to leave early tonight before the guests were gone.

Aurah figured out that he was one of werewolves. The thin footsteps were moving closer as she held her breath and started thinking what she could do before she came into the wolf's sight. There were two cars in front of her. One of them was a red truck and its backside was open. There was a large wagon cover -like a camping tent- which might hide her while he was passing by. She jumped in and covered herself with it. She didn't move, she didn't breathe… She just waited immobile until the wolf passed by… But, he didn't. Quite contrary, he stopped by the car and put his hand into his pocket to take his keys out. Because this was his car!

Aurah started swearing to herself from inside of her mouth. It was such an ill-fortune. On the other hand, she was still lucky that the wolf didn't sense her, or catch her scent. Perhaps, he wasn't familiar with foxes.

He started the engine and drove along the way silently. Apparently, he hadn't even suspected of her presence. Aurah thought she still had the chance to run away without being seen when he stopped the car and left.

The End Of Chapter 2

~ 6 ~